Tong Lu didn't say a word, his expression indifferent.
All of a sudden, the sword lights flashed.
The flying swords came back to the chaotic rocks from afar, with water stains, but no blood.
Liu Shisui, who had been standing on a rock, disappeared.
Tong Lu recited the sword instructions silently. The shape of the air in front of his body changed slightly, and the white foams beneath his feet suddenly vanished. He disappeared as well.
Zip!!!
The rock he had stood on revealed a deep crack.
The blue sea water somersaulted in this cluster of the chaotic rocks, wave sprays rolling, and the water beams shot up between the rocks once in a while, exuding a bloody smell.
Tong Lu and Liu Shisui were hiding somewhere, ready to wield their swords.
In their current Cultivation state, it was difficult to see each other's flying swords with the naked eye, and as a result, the battle was even more dangerous, the outcome possibly being determined by one swing of the sword.
At the Sword Trial on Green Mountain, the sword fights between the disciples of the peaks were very exciting, and they chased each other constantly. It was because they knew each other very well, and the fight wasn't a combat of life and death.
Yet, this day's battle between Tong Lu and Liu Shisui was indeed one of those struggles to the death.
If the wielding sword had landed on one of them earlier, the white foam among the rocks would be reddish in color.
As time went by slowly, the sea water crashed into the rocks and making booming sounds. The two hadn't revealed their bodies since.
As a sword Cultivationist, the most important thing was to conceal one's whereabouts, just like Zhao Layue had done when killing Luo Huainan.
Underneath a rock, the light was dim, making it hard to see anything; the moss and the dead mussel shells were everywhere on the rock surface.
Standing under the rock, Tong Lu closed his eyes, not responding to the sea water that splashed onto his face and body. His breathing was long and light, as if it would stop.
His flying sword had a high spiritual state, named West Coldness. At the moment, his sword was hiding amid the snow-like wave sprays, ready to attack at any time.
Behind a rock one thousand feet away, Liu Shisui sat cross-legged in the sea water, his eyes closed.
His head was a few feet away from the ocean surface.
His sword was nowhere to be found.
Amid the rumbling sounds of the ocean waves, they had a hard time identifying the other's heartbeat and energy to determine their opponent's position. All they could do was send the sword awareness to seek the opponent; but doing so would reveal their own position. In the end, the result was determined by the speed of the wielding sword.
Tong Lu suddenly sensed a warning sign, opened his eyes, and dodged to the side.
Zip!!!
A bloody tear appeared on his left shoulder.
The rock had been cut a crack by the sword. The moss and the mussel shells flew up after turning into powder, and then dropped into the ocean water.
Liu Shisui's sword had been hidden in the ocean water!
Tong Lu didn't expect that this expelled disciple of the Green Mountain was so cunning, but he didn't show any fear. He abruptly channeled his Sword Source and pointed his two closed fingers at a spot on the distant ocean.
The West Coldness Sword flew out, breaking through the sky; a white line appeared on the ocean surface, the ocean sprays rolling aside. The move was very powerful.
This was the Hidden Tide Sword Style of the West Ocean Sword Sect!
The sword light flashed.
Dozens of white whirlpools twirled on the surface of the ocean.
The rocks were cut into pieces and flew up, like the raindrops falling backwards.
Tong Lu drifted back fifty feet. "Where did you learn this sword move?!" he exclaimed while staring at the distant figure.
Earlier, he had ascertained where Liu Shisui was located and employed the most powerful move of the Hidden Tide Sword Style without hesitation.
Unexpectedly, his opponent was prepared for it, and Liu Shisui had figured out his sword path and easily warded off his incoming sword.
Liu Shisui was wet throughout, his face ashen; he must have used a great deal of his zhenyuan. At the moment, he looked like a watery ghost who had just climbed out from the ocean.
A few crisp sword whistles rang out around him, and several air streams arose in the mid-air full of watery fog.
These air streams were the remnants left by the collision of the two flying swords.
Liu Shisui didn't answer his question, and instead thrust his fist forward from a distance of five hundred feet, with the black devil flames attached to it.
Both the sea water underneath the rock and the wave sprays had instantly evaporated, turning into a white dragon, rushing toward Tong Lu.
Tong Lu knew this was the evil method of the Bloody Demon Sect, plus the power of the Devil Pill fire; with a slightly changed expression, he called back the West Coldness Sword and set up three layers of sword curtains in front of him.
Pah!!! Pah!!! Pah!!!
All three layers of sword curtain had been smashed!
Tong Lu fell down heavily onto the rocks with a grunt; his chest was dented slightly and the blood trickled out from the corners of his mouth. He was severely wounded.
Liu Shisui was even paler, as this violent attack had used up a great deal of his devil fire and zhenyuan.
As he was about to pursue Tong Lu, he suddenly sensed something was wrong, and rode his sword flying away without hesitation after he shot a glance at the horizon.
The black devil fire spread in all directions, the ocean water boiling, white fog looking like the cloud. When the fog dispersed, Liu Shisui had already vanished without a trace.
A few sword lights landed on the chaotic rocks.
The disciples of the West Ocean Sword Sect had arrived.
The leader of the group was an elder in the Free Travel State.
Seeing Tong Lu on the rock, the disciples yelled out "Big Brother" in surprise and went to his rescue.
The elder of the Free Travel State sensed the remaining energy of the devil fire in the air, asking with the frowning brows, "Who did this?"
Tong Lu said after being helped up by the disciples of the West Ocean Sword Sect, "Liu Shisui."
The elder and the disciples were stunned upon hearing the name.
Tong Lu signaled to his young brothers, indicating that he didn't need to be supported anymore. Looking at the broken rocks around him and the dead fish floating in the water, Tong Lu displayed a hint of lethal determination in his eyes.
"He can't escape this time."
When he saw the envelope, he had already guessed who the challenger was.
Though he hadn't thought Liu Shisui would have such courage, the challenge wasn't totally out of his expectation.
Here was Haizhou city, the territory of the West Ocean Sword Sect. He had made some arrangements in advance, so he wouldn't let Liu Shisui escape this time.
However, what had happened next was utterly unexpected by Tong Lu.
The West Ocean Sword Sect had completely prohibited the surroundings of Haizhou City, and sent out many disciples to search around, but no one could find any trace left by Liu Shisui.
He had vanished like a ghost in the thin air.
There was a cloud, or a patch of cloud to be more precise, outside Haizhou City, which refused to disperse all year long.
This patch of cloud was very thick, about three miles in height from bottom to the top.
Even the populace in Haizhou City knew that there was a mountain hidden in this patch of cloud, with countless buildings and palace halls on the mountain.
The populace in Haizhou could often be seen bow to that patch of cloud while kneeling on the ground.
This was the Cloud Platform.
In the deepest end of the cliff on the Cloud Platform, there was a quiet room.
As the natural light from outside could hardly reach here, many glowing orbs were embedded in the rocky walls, emitting a gentle glow, quite suitable for reading books.
It was perhaps due to this reason that the shelves in the room were full of books, and the table in the room was piled by many scrolls of different sizes.
Sitting behind the table, Liu Shisui picked up a scroll from the table and opened it up from time to time, reading them with a great deal of concentration. And then he wrote down something on a piece of white paper with his right hand.
Who would have guessed that the mysterious Old Ones were hidden in the Cloud Platform, the well guarded place of the West Ocean Sword Sect.
This was the reason why the orthodox Cultivation sects and the imperial court couldn't find the Old Ones after having searched for them over a hundred years.
It wasn't a surprise that Liu Shisui could have lived a peaceful life after he killed Luo Huainan, the principal disciple of the Center Sect, and was wanted by the Center Sect and the Green Mountain for a big award.
It was understandable that he could have escaped so easily even though Tong Lu had prepared beforehand and the West Ocean Sword Sect had been searching for him everywhere.
The light in the room had dimmed slightly.
Liu Shisui looked at a middle-aged man who had suddenly appeared in the quiet room.
The middle-aged man wore a luxurious black robe, looking like a born nobleman.
He was Xiwang Sun.
Liu Shisui got up and bowed to him.
Looking at him, Xiwang Sun said with a calm expression, "Now that you are injured, you should take a rest. These scrolls won't be compiled in a short time; no need to hurry."